Wimbledon Tennis: Outside Center Court, a bit of history is made - Sports - International Herald Tribune

LONDON — For the student of tennis history, the place to be this week was in the intimate confines of Court 3, with its small, tightly packed grandstand and its view of the ivy-covered water tower and steeple of St. Mary's Church.

It was there that Shenay Perry put the finishing touch on the worst Wimbledon in nearly a century for the United States, losing in less than an hour in the fourth round Monday.

It was there, in the next match, that Li Na became the first Chinese singles player to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

As a sign of decline and rise, it was a powerful one-two punch. The last time there were no Americans in the quarterfinals of the men's or women's singles at Wimbledon was in 1911, which was easier to understand considering that there were no American women entered in that tournament.

The unseeded Perry, ranked No. 62, was not aware of all those details, but she was aware that she was the only American singles player to reach the fourth round. "I think everyone told me that," said Perry, who pleaded nerves.

"I think when anyone's in a position that they're thrown into for the first time, and being the last American, it is a little nerve-racking," said Perry, who had never reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam before.

It has been a season of firsts for China. In January, Yan Zi and Zheng Jie took the country's first Grand Slam title when they won the women's doubles at the Australian Open. Now, Li is making a major move in singles, and she is not making it because of the luck of the draw.

To reach the fourth round, she had to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former U.S. Open champion. To reach the quarterfinals, she had to upset Nicole Vaidisova, a Czech who was seeded 10th. Vaidisova, a tall and powerful 17-year-old, reached the semifinals of the French Open and has a big, aggressive game nicely suited to grass.

"I felt I didn't move very well today; felt a little tired, a little tight," Vaidisova said. "But, you know, I have to give credit to her. On some points, on the important points, she played some great points, hit some great shots."

Chinese coaches pumped their fists and exchanged handshakes with understandable delight over the victory of Li, a powerfully built 24-year-old from Wuhan who is ranked No. 30.

Tennis is rising fast in their country, with the 2008 Olympic Games ahead and with a deeply ingrained racket- sports culture already in place because of the longtime success of Chinese table tennis and badminton players. Li played badminton until she was 8. "Probably I would be a champion, a world champion, if I played badminton," Li said through a translator.

Instead, she slugs it out from the baseline against women from more established tennis powers. "I'm proud of myself, and I'm very proud for my country, as well," Li said. "This means that women's tennis in China is getting better and better."

Three Russians, two Belgians, two French players and one Chinese advanced to the quarterfinals. But one quarterfinalist was actually a bigger surprise than the 27th-seeded Li. That would be Séverine Brémond, a qualifier from France, who continued to live dangerously on the grass and advance.

Brémond saved five match points in her third-round upset of Gisela Dulko. On Monday, she saved nine set points in the opening set against the 18th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan before prevailing 7-6 (13-11), 6-3.

Brémond was the first women's qualifier to advance this deep into the second week at Wimbledon since 1999, when two teenagers did so: Jelena Dokic of Australia in the final eight and Alexandra Stevenson of the United States in the semifinals. But Brémond is no teenager. She is a 26-year-old with a world ranking of 129 who is coached by her new husband, Éric.

Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, seeded No. 3, continued her dominating performances Monday by defeating Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3, 6-1, even though she said she was not completely at ease with the footing and irregular bounces on the increasingly browned- out Center Court that has been getting plenty of sun since last week.

"I never saw the courts like this at Wimbledon," Henin-Hardenne said. "On Center, behind the baseline, it's dirt. We're going to end up playing on clay in a couple days."

Presumably, that would suit Henin- Hardenne, who has won the last two French Open titles on clay.

In the top half of the men's draw, Roger Federer of Switzerland will face Mario Ancic of Croatia in the quarterfinals. Ancic was the last man to beat Federer on grass when he surprised him in the first round here in 2002.

Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic will face Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw.

In the bottom half, Rafael Nadal will face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, and Lleyton Hewitt, a former Wimbledon champion, will face Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot who burst to prominence in Hewitt's home country with a high- spirited run to the Australian Open final this year.

Murray bore little resemblance to the spin-mixing, mind-reading, generally error-free youngster who upset the two- time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick of the United States on Saturday.

"I played, you know, 10 times worse than on Saturday," Murray said.

The hard, relatively high-bouncing conditions are a fine fit for Nadal's game, and he dismissed a fellow left- hander, Irakli Labadze, a qualifier from Georgia, by 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 without facing a break point.

Nadal then dismissed a report in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that his name was on a list of athletes implicated in raids last month by the Spanish authorities on laboratories supposedly involved in doping.

Evidence gathered in those raids was used to expel several top cyclists from the Tour de France, including Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. On Monday, the highest Spanish government agency for sport released a statement denying that there were tennis players, either Spanish or foreign, implicated in the investigation.

"I've never taken anything in my life, and I never will," Nadal said. "People who write lies about other people are bad people."

After defending his French Open title, Nadal is now into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal outside of Paris. The surprise is that he has no American company.

Even non-Americans who have homes in the United States had difficulties Monday. Maria Sharapova, the Russian star who has long been based in Florida, struggled to defeat Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3.

Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian who has long been based in California, was beaten in five sets by Nieminen, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (6-8), 9-7, and is likely to receive a substantial fine for his behavior.

After losing his serve at 7-7 in the fifth set, Tursunov, seeded 27th, hit a ball in frustration that struck the base of the umpire's chair. The chair umpire, Fergus Murphy, gave Tursunov a point penalty, which meant that Nieminen started with a 15-0 lead as he served out the match.

When Tursunov shook Murphy's hand afterward, he clung to it as Murphy tried to release his grip. Tursunov then briefly tugged Murphy toward him before letting go, speaking to him angrily and pointing his finger at him.

All in all, it was quite a day on Court Three.

"I think he's terrible," Tursunov said of Murphy. "I mean he never makes an overrule. Then he, as you saw, gives me a point penalty at 8-7. Four hours on the court doesn't seem to be a good enough reason for him to be more lenient. You know, if the guy's an idiot, the guy's an idiot. I'm going to let him know that I feel that."

iht.com/sports

Results of the women's quarterfinals, which began too late for this edition.